06/18/2016 10:42 AM -
SATURDAY’S GAME:
Southland Vikings (7-9)
at Northwest Indiana Oilmen (9-8)
June 18, 2016 • 7:20 p.m. • Whiting, Ind.
Radio: AM 1230 & 104.7 FM WJOB, NWIOilmen.com
Pitching Matchup
NWI’s Max Siedlecki (New Mexico Highlands / Chicago, Ill.) vs. Southland’s Matt Ittersagen (Harper College / Wheeler, Ind.)
For Starters
The Oilmen have scored in the first inning in 11 straight games. Oilmen starting pitching owns a collective 2.67 ERA this season. No Oilmen starter has given up more than four earned runs in an outing and 15 of the first 17 games have seen the Oilmen starter allow three earned runs or fewer. In the last four games, Oilmen starters have an 0.69 ERA. Oilmen starters have worked 16 straight scoreless innings dating back to the first inning on Wednesday against the Lakers. Saturday’s starter Max Siedlecki has a 2.25 ERA in three starts, but doesn’t have a win to show for it with a loss and two no decisions. He allowed six runs in five innings against Southland last week, but five of the runs were unearned in an eventual 10-9 Vikings victory. The Oilmen are averaging 9.9 runs per game over their last 10 games. Siedlecki has issued seven walks against 11 strikeouts in 16 innings. A win on Saturday would give the Oilmen a five-game winning streak for the first time this year. Friday’s win allowed them to climb above .500 for the first time all season. The Oilmen have outscored the top two teams in the league by a combined score of 30-3 over the last two games. Friday was just the second time ever a game between the Oilmen and Hounds was decided by more than nine runs. The first came on July 6, 2012 when the Oilmen won 22-10 at DuPage County.
Inside the Oilmen
Tyler Sroczysnki extended his hitting streak to eight on Friday night by going 1-for-6. He also notched his 60th career hit for the Oilmen, matching Craig Austgen’s franchise record, and converted his 25th career stolen base, pulling within one of Jack Czeszewski’s career Oilmen record. Sroczysnki is 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts this season and has been successful in each of his last 13 tries dating back to last year. Chase Dawson had two hits on Friday to extend his on-base streak to nine games. Chase Fieldhouse reached in his first two plate appearances to make it 11 straight plate appearances reaching base before he was retired in the third. Fieldhouse went 0-for-3 and saw his nine-game hitting streak snapped. He leads the league in on-base percentage at .563 and has a league-most seven hit by pitches. Chris Baker is 5-for-8 over his last two games to raise his average to .400. Zack Forney walked twice on Friday to boost his team-high total to 13 bases on balls. After notching two more hits on Friday, Tommy Szczasny continues to lead the league in hitting at .480.
Inside the Vikings
Southland is coming off an 8-5 loss to Michigan City on Friday night. In all three MCL games on Friday, the team with the better record lost. Lucas Karz ranks first in the league in walks with 14. The Vikings have lost three straight games. Starting pitcher Matt Ittersagen will make his Vikings debut on Saturday.
About the Matchup
The Oilmen saw a seven-game head-to-head winning streak snapped with last week’s 10-9 loss to the Vikings. The Oilmen and Vikings have split the first two meetings this season.
Click "download attachment" to view full Oilmen game notes.
